three foot putt

Pretty basic situation toward the end of a round  -- I should be able to win this, but what attack minimizes the probability of something going wrong?

Random buttons!

Your turn to attack

q(20) q(20) (8/12) (6/12) (4) Button: Sven Player: ElihuRoot

W/L/T: 2/2/0 (3)  •  Score: 52 (+10 sides) Dice captured: (30), (6/10=6) q(20) 10 (8/12=8) 7 (4) 4 (6/12=6)  6  5 F(4/8=8) 2 (6) 5 s(8) Dice captured: q(20), (6/12=6) W/L/T: 2/2/0 (3)  •  Score: 37 (-10 sides)

Player: irilyth Button: Jota F(4/8) (6) (6/10) s(8) (30)

A simple maximum die skill puzzle

I don't have much experience with "Maximum" dice -- dice that always show their maximum value. I sort of think I don't like them very much. But I have to admit they make this decision a little more interesting. I think there's only one attack I can make with any hope of leading to a winning situation (and even that hope is slender)

Game #764  •  ElihuRoot (Jose) vs. glassonion (Randarch)  •  Round #1

Your turn to attack

M(3) M(4) M(6) M(8) M(T) Button: Jose Player: ElihuRoot

W/L/T: 0/0/0 (3)  •  Score: 20.5 (-2.7 sides) Dice captured: (10), M(6) M(3) 3 M(4) 4 M(T=2) 2 M(6)  6  6 M(6) 7 (10) 5 (X=5) Dice captured: M(8), M(6) W/L/T: 0/0/0 (3)  •  Score: 24.5 (+2.7 sides)

Player: glassonion Button: Randarch M(6) M(6) (10) (10) (X)

Buttonmen 101

This is pretty easy to calculate, but I thought it was interesting because my instinct was that it almost didn't matter which one I did, but when I stopped to think about it, I realized that one attack was clearly better than the other. (technically, there are three  attacks I could make, but one of them is absurd).

Game #441  •  ElihuRoot (Von Pinn) vs. Boot2daHead (Jorgi)  •  Round #5

Your turn to attack

(4) p(6,6) (10) (20) (W) Button: Von Pinn Player: ElihuRoot

W/L/T: 2/2/0 (3)  •  Score: 25 (-0.7 sides) Dice captured: (20), (4), (8) p(6,6) 5 (10) 9 (4)  2  1 (6) 6 p(X=6) Dice captured: (20), (W=5), (4) W/L/T: 2/2/0 (3)  •  Score: 26 (+0.7 sides)

Player: Boot2daHead Button: Jorgi (4) (6) (8) (20) p(X)

Exception to the rule

Konstant dice seem like one of those good ideas that must not have been  playtested much; in practice, they are nearly useless, and the usual optimal strategy when opposing them is to ignore them completely. In the situation below, however, the konstant die seems to have some value -- just not to its owner. It's  usually a wasted move  to capture a die that isn't a threat, but in this case the benefit outweighs the waste.

[Some people might claim that Null dice are equally useless and worth ignoring. Such people are very very wrong.]

Game #694  •  ElihuRoot (Brigid) vs. Patman (Pythagoras)  •  Round #1

Your turn to attack

(8) (8) (X) (X) (X) Button: Brigid Player: ElihuRoot

W/L/T: 0/0/0 (3)  •  Score: 33.5 (0 sides) Dice captured: (12), (8) 1 (8) 4 (8) 1 (X=11) 6 k(6) 10 (10) 3 (Z=7) Dice captured: (X=11), (X=11) W/L/T: 0/0/0 (3)  •  Score: 33.5 (0 sides)

Player: Patman Button: Pythagoras k(6) (8) (10) (12) (Z)

another focus die contest

I can't win the initiative here: if i. chooses to contest it, he'll beat me.  And I can't turn down my d20 to a  safe value while temporarily gaining initiative. Yet I think there may be another very good reason to turn down my focus dice here, do you see it? Do you agree?

Focus dice ----ing contest

[warning: this is not *quite* how the game appeared, I modified one die's value to make the puzzle interesting.  OK, I'm in battle to get the initiative, but I'm bound to lose it, am I not?

Should I just skip it altogether and pass, rather than waste my relatively large die rolls? Or should I turn down my dice to either get initiative or at least make L.  have to turn down his big dice and gain initiative?

Or... is there something else I might do?

---

Game #364  •  ElihuRoot (Naga) vs. Limax (Phoenix)  •  Round #3

Your turn to try to gain initiative using die skills

Player: ElihuRoot	Player: Limax
Button: Naga	Button: Phoenix
W/L/T: 1/1/0 (3)	W/L/T: 1/1/0 (3)
Recipe Value f(6) 54321 (8) 2 (8) 5 (8) 5 f(20) 19181716151413121110987654321	Recipe Value (4) 3 (6) 1 f(8) 7 (10) 8 f(20) 7

Turn down focus diceTake no action

Beta Testing the buttonmen web site, Also Auxiliary Dice Theory

(1) If you don't know, yet, you should: the Button Men web site is now in beta testing at www.buttonweavers.com   Remember  that it's still a work in progress,  with new features to be added and some rough edges here and there  -- but it's getting very playable, and the game is always fun!

(2) Auxiliary Dice -- when a game involved Auxiliary dice, both players must agree to use it -- if not, the extra die is not included in the game.  As a matter of game theory, then, it should never appear since whichever player it penalizes in the matchup should decline it -- so if it DOES appear in the game, someone has blundered. (I suppose there are some very rare cases in which the Auxiliary die is equally good for both players. Also, it's perfectly legitimate to want to play with it for fun even if you think it hurts your net probability of winning.)

Sometimes it might be subtle to really calculate who benefits from  gaining an Auxiliary Die. But sometimes, I think it's very clear.

For example, suppose the matchup is  Patience (Recipe: 2,2,8,12,X) vs. Lancelot (10, 12,20, 20, X) . If both players agree, they'll get an extra X-swing die (X-swing: 4-20, and if you have two X-swing, they both need to be set to the same size).

Who do you think benefits if the auxiliary die is used?

not too hard, but a characteristic problem.

if I take the d10, my d20 has a  65% chance of rerolling safe from immediate attack, but he gets to reroll his d20 and may outroll me -- which reduces that survival chance substantially. [is it as much as a 50% reduction? Why or why not?

if I take the d20,  I have only 45% chance of rerolling safe from immediate attack.

In either case, I still have to capture both his remaining dice on the subsequent turns.

Game #136  •  ElihuRoot (Rubeus) vs. jimmosk1 (Tuxedo Mask)  •  Round #3

Your turn to attack

(4) (4) (12) (12) r(6) r(10) r(20) (20) Button: Rubeus Player: ElihuRoot

W/L/T: 1/1/0 (3)  •  Score: 22 (-16 sides) Dice captured: (6), (4) 1 (4) 18 (20) 6 (6) 10 (10) 3 (20) Dice captured: (12), (12), (4) W/L/T: 1/1/0 (3)  •  Score: 46 (+16 sides)

Player: jimmosk1 Button: Tuxedo Mask (6) (6) (10) (20) (4) r(8) r(10) r(12) r(20)

(A) the layout on the alpha test site is getting better!
(B) what do you think the best move is? personally, I thought I saw three reasons why it might be better to take the die with value 5, but at least one of them is FALSE  -- or at least misleading -- do you see which one(s) and why?

• If I leave g.  with only dice showing even values, she'll only be able to make skill attacks that sum to even numbers, and I'll have more chances of rerolling safely.
• I get to reroll BOTH the d10 and the d12 and I increase the chance that one of them will roll out of skill attack range.
• My z4 stays at its maximum and there might still be an opportunity for a speed attack

Game #41  •  ElihuRoot (Nickie) vs. glassonion (Naga)  •  Round #1

Your turn to attack

z(4) (10) (10) (12) z(12) Button: Nickie Player: ElihuRoot

W/L/T: 0/0/0 (3)  •  Score: 33 (-2.7 sides) Dice captured: f(20) 4 z(4) 3 (10) 2 (12) 2 f(6) 4 (8) 5 (8) 6 (8) Dice captured: z(12), (10) W/L/T: 0/0/0 (3)  •  Score: 37 (+2.7 sides)

Player: glassonion Button: Naga f(6) (8) (8) (8) f(20)

Basic puzzle

This is NOT a hard puzzle. It's just is the sort of thing I'd give to a beginner  after explaining the rules, just to see if they're paying attention. yawetag has three possible attacks -- which one is CERTAIN to lose? and which of the other two is clearly the best?

Game #92: Round #2

Opponent's turn to attack

Button: Lucky (6) (10) p(12) (20) (X)

Player: ElihuRoot W/L/T: 1/0/0 (3) Dice captured: p(4), (X=14), (10) Score: 23 3 (6) 5 p(12) 17 (20) 4 (8) 7 (12) Score: 30 Dice captured: (10), (X=10) W/L/T: 0/1/0 (3) Player: yawetag

p(4) (8) (10) (12) (X) Button: Grist

It is your opponent's turn to attack right now.

Last action time: Fri, 14 Feb 2014 05:49:48 +0000

Full house

I'm not rerolling the d30, of course. But the two obvious choices are to use by d20 against his f8  or to use my d18 against one of his d20s. I'm pretty sure I know which one is better, but I confess my head aches trying to prove it, and I could easily be wrong. [Doesn't that mean I'm not pretty sure?]

Your turn to attack

Button: Yeti (10) (20) (30) (30) (X)

Player: ElihuRoot W/L/T: 1/1/0 (3) Dice captured: none Score: 39 2 (10) 1 (20) 11 (30) 9 (X=18) 1 (6) 1 f(8) 6 f(10) 6 (20) 6 (20) Score: 62 Dice captured: (30) W/L/T: 1/1/0 (3) Player: blackshadowshade

(6) f(8) f(10) (20) (20) Button: Mantis

If Crab were some other button, I wouldn't know what to reroll.

OK, everyone sees at a glance

• I should capture the f10 with value of 6, that's clearly better than any other capture
• I'll win if I survive with my d10, and tie if I survive with my d8 

That along probably would incline me to reroll the d8, even though it only has a 25% chance of rolling out of C.'s ability to recapture me (the d10 has a 40% chance of doing that). But what if the score were a bit different? If  Crab's d12 that has already been captured were instead another d10, C.'s score would be only 63 at this point int he game, and I could win by surviving with either my d8 or d10.  Would it then make more sense to capture the d10 with my d10? That 40% chance of rolling out of danger is compelling, is it sufficient? 

Game #82: Round #1

Your turn to attack

Button: Crab (8) (10) (12) f(20) f(20)

Player: ElihuRoot W/L/T: 0/0/0 (3) Dice captured: (12), (20) Score: 41 8 (8) 8 (10) 5 f(6) 2 (10) 6 f(10) Score: 65 Dice captured: f(20), f(20), (12) W/L/T: 0/0/0 (3) Player: Caligari

f(6) (10) f(10) (12) (20) Button: Mirumoto

OK -- you *know* what I would do in this situation. Don't you?

There's one obvious die for me to capture -- isn't there? And, conditional on that, there's one obvious choice of die to make the attack -- isn't there? But how can that possibly be right?

Game #66: Round #4

Your turn to attack

Button: Hammer (6) (12) (20) (20) (X)

Player: ElihuRoot W/L/T: 2/1/0 (3) Dice captured: none Score: 34 2 (6) 6 (12) 15 (20) 19 (20) 1 (X=10) 6 (6) 9 (10) 1 (10) 9 (12) 8 (X=13) Score: 25.5 Dice captured: none W/L/T: 1/2/0 (3) Player: glassonion

(6) (10) (10) (12) (X) Button: Niles

With stealth dice (did you remember that "d" meant "stealth"? I didn't. and it's confusing because I want to talk about a d8 or d12, etc, and I just mean a die with that many sides), the options are a lot fewer, but still sometimes subtle. Well, maybe not in this case.

glassonion has only two choices, take my 8-sided die or my 12-sided die. Normally, this would be a no-brainer, but one should at least stop for a moment and think about whether my available skill attack with the 4-sided die should make any difference.

Game #57

Round #2

Opponent's turn to attack

Player: ElihuRoot

Button: Howling Wolf

W/L/T: 1/0/0 (3)

Score: 54

Dice captured: (12), (20)

1
d(4)

1
(8)

2
(12)

19
d(20)

2
d(4)

4
(8)

6
d(20)

Dice captured: (20)

Score: 36

W/L/T: 0/1/0 (3)

Button: Howling Wolf

Player: glassonion